days like today make me glad I own a mac computer
- Thread starter bomber89
- Start date
The impact of the cyber attack goes far beyond any personal computer issues. Entire healthcare systems are losing their records. However, it is also a stretch to assume Apple computers can't be hacked/get viruses. Less frequently than PCs, for sure, but they are not immune.
I've only had problems with Windows when I let the anti-virus lapse. Plus, I think Apple's OS seems less user friendly than Windows. Or maybe it just seems antiquated vs Windows.
Once upon a time there wasn't much in the way of virus/malware for Apple systems. They exist now, so it's not really much safer. But if you keep your data backed up, you can do a fresh install without having to ransom anything. It would take me maybe about half a day to wipe my home machine and be back up and running if I were hit with something like this.
Generally speaking, lurking about in the dark alleys of the internet is the best way to get your machine infected. Unless you don't have enough sense not to click on links in sketchy emails from people you've never heard of.
It's been widely publicized that Microsoft released an update months ago that would have prevented this from happening. Both my machines ran a pretty significant update last Wednesday.
Generally speaking, lurking about in the dark alleys of the internet is the best way to get your machine infected. Unless you don't have enough sense not to click on links in sketchy emails from people you've never heard of.
It's been widely publicized that Microsoft released an update months ago that would have prevented this from happening. Both my machines ran a pretty significant update last Wednesday.
Let me just say this as someone who has some experience in this arena.
Macs are not safe. Linux is not safe. Windows is not safe.
Windows owns the desktop, Linux owns the server space. When these credit card companies servers get hacked and millions and billions of user accounts are compromised....is that supposed to make you feel better about the Windows alternatives?
Your Mac is not a warm blanket (it shares the same underpinnings as Linux/BSD).
Also note, that I believe anyone on Windows 10 is unaffected. Simply staying "up to date" with new software/patches is an effective shield in even this instance.
Macs are not safe. Linux is not safe. Windows is not safe.
Windows owns the desktop, Linux owns the server space. When these credit card companies servers get hacked and millions and billions of user accounts are compromised....is that supposed to make you feel better about the Windows alternatives?
Your Mac is not a warm blanket (it shares the same underpinnings as Linux/BSD).
Also note, that I believe anyone on Windows 10 is unaffected. Simply staying "up to date" with new software/patches is an effective shield in even this instance.
Well, we're on the internet so of course an Apple fanboy has to tell everyone about their computer.
Windows is export controlled.
Q. Are there countries to which Microsoft products may not be shipped?
A. Supp. 1 to Part 740. And with regard to region of Crimea, (EAR) 746.6.
Cuba, Iran, Sudan, North Korea, Region of Crimea, Syria
* In regards to Iran and Cuba, recent changes to the US sanctions may apply. To determine eligibility of your transaction, please consult the OFAC Iran Sanctions Resource Center , the US BIS Cuba Guidanceand OFAC Cuba Guidance.
Also note that North Korea uses its own custom built Linux distro. Which has been hacked.
http://thehackernews.com/2016/12/redstar-north-korea.html
It only got PCs with really old NON-SUPPORTED version of Windows (no more security patching which should have been enough to replace it). It really is negligence on the part of those impacted, at least from an organization level.
I bet across the country, hundreds of thousands of IT staff are going in to their meetings with management with a little bit of edge about "you will ignore us no more and replace these damn old computers".
May not work, but its their choice.
Sounds like the virus was actually by CIA and NSA on a flaw identified with operating system and leaked.
Macs are just as vulnerable. There's just a lot more Windows users. So, when an exploit is found this can happen. A Mac is just another PC. As others have mentioned this only affected those that turned off updates. Lots of businesses don't like to use resources to test every update. They use out of date software and many times updates can wreck their operations. But to answer the question (that wasn't asked), Microsoft patched the vulnerability quite a while ago. I also use two anti-ransomware programs.
To clear up some terminology here:
A vulnerability is basically a "hole" or "bug" in a piece of software. These are not intentionally created, its the inherent imperfection of humans creating software. Windows and other OS's have tons of these.
An exploit is basically some piece of code or a tactic that you use, to exploit the vulnerability and gain some level of control of a computer.
A payload is kind of like a warhead. Its what happens to the target. Ransomware in this case.
Basically someone took an NSA exploit and attached a rather crude payload to it. NSA didn't create some crappy payload to ask for $300.
"The article also highlights the fact that the group behind this threat is possibly made of inexperienced coders, who just stumbled upon a way to weaponize an NSA exploit. Their three previous WanaDecrypt0r campaigns were mundane, and one researcher called their code "utter [expletive]." This is because WanaDecrypt0r is actually made of two main modules, the ransomware itself, and the SMB worm (based on the NSA exploit). While the SMB worm is top-shelf code, the ransomware itself is quite unsophisticated, making a lot of operational errors, including using only 3 Bitcoin wallets to handle payments, instead of one per infected user, as most top-shelf ransomware does. This makes it difficult to tell which victims paid and who didn't, as anyone could claim "x" transaction is theirs, even if they didn't pay."
https://it.slashdot.org/story/17/05...ll-get-infected-with-wanadecrypt0r-in-minutes
https://it.slashdot.org/story/17/05...ll-get-infected-with-wanadecrypt0r-in-minutes
A
anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
Guest
I started using a Mac 10 years ago. I tried to switch back to Windows recently and that didn't last very long at all. That Windows 10 is junk, cobbled together garbage from XP, Vista, & 7. Macs Rule.. buy a console if you want to game.
I understand my mac isn't 100% safe, I have antivirus and anti malware on it. Heard a guy on the radio say the reason why Russia, China, Korea have so many issues with this is because they have pirated Windows operating systems and didn't buy it so they do not get updates. The update would fix the issues but since their stuff is pirated they won't get the update. I don't know if thats true but if it is I can't help but laugh at them. The innocent people hurt by this is sad.
Oh wow, I only have the basic Windows Defender that's built in on Windows 10. I don't have anything on my Macs or Linux boxes.
China is practically synonymous with bootlegging and piracy. A funny bit of irony considering their penchant for hacking US companies and stealing intellectual property so they can duplicate it.
Except that (depending on your interests) you can game "better", for less money, on PC.
And, the PC fills a bunch of other functions I want (web browsing, tv, personal bookkeeping, etc), all in one place.
If I were to switch to a mac, I'd pay much more money just for the computer (and be unable to simply swap out components as they age), and on top of that have to pay another large sum for an inferior gaming experience on console. No thanks.
Anybody with a brain and an updated computer has no problems with this. The issue is that all these computers are ones that haven't been updated and/or are running old unsupported OS's...i.e. WinXP.
As others have said, Macs are not really inherently safer. One of the biggest reasons you don't see as much malware for them is simply market share. If you're trying to infect as much as possible, you got for the majority of the market share which is Windows.
Apple makes some nice computers for sure, I have family members who have them and their build quality is great. That being said, you're paying a premium for the name as much as you are quality. You can build a Windows computer with comparable specs for significantly cheaper, and as someone else pointed a Windows PC is much more easily upgraded to keep up with the times.
Apple makes some nice computers for sure, I have family members who have them and their build quality is great. That being said, you're paying a premium for the name as much as you are quality. You can build a Windows computer with comparable specs for significantly cheaper, and as someone else pointed a Windows PC is much more easily upgraded to keep up with the times.
Apple is the biggest bunch of greedy gouging blood suckers on the face of the planet...the difference between a MacBook Air with 128G storage and 256G storage is $200, all other specs exactly the same, plus no microSD storage. That extra 128G memory costs them about $2, but they mark it up 10,000%. Why people pay that is beyond me, Apple has a right to make a profit and people will pay it, so whatever I guess.
Why does the type of hardware matter? I run Win on my MBP and OSX on my desktop PC.
Some pay it because it's required to compile/build iOS apps. But it cracks me up when there's a discussion on malware and the common moron says to buy a mac. Another intel based piece of hardware one can install any OS on.
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